Honour killing: SC demands answers from J&K govt

November 27, 2009 19:58 IST

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Jammu and Kashmir government on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged custodial murder of Rajneesh Sharma, a Hindu youth from the state.

A bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph, while seeking the government's response, posted the matter for the next hearing to the second week of January, on the petition filed by the deceased's widow Anchal Sharma alias Amina Yousuf.

The alleged murder was said to be an outcome of a 'honour killing' as the couple belonged to two different communities and the girl's family was opposed to the marriage.

The bench had earlier directed the Delhi police to provide necessary protection to Sharma's widow Anchal Sharma alias Amina, who had moved the apex court, seeking the transfer of the trial outside the state and Rs 50 lakh compensation.

On November 13, the apex court said the Delhi police shall grant the widow all possible protection. Rajneesh Sharma was found hanging to death on October 5, 2009, at the Munshi Bagh police station, after being picked up from his Jammu residence on September 30.

Though the police maintained that Rajneesh had committed suicide in the lock-up, Anchal and other family members alleged that he was tortured to death by the police, at the behest of the father of the Muslim girl whom he had married.

According to Anchal Sharma, Rajneesh was murdered by the police after being kept in illegal custody and the death was made out to be a suicide, at the behest of her parents who were against the marriage.

Anchal alias Amina, who married Rajneesh after a seven-year-long love affair, converted to Hinduism by changing her name to Anchal Sharma. They were married in August, 2009 in Jammu at the Arya Samaj Temple. Two postmortems have so far been conducted in Jammu on the demand of Rajneesh's family.

Anchal has sought the transfer of the case to the CBI, saying she has no faith in the local police, which was trying to hush up the case. Rajneesh was picked up from the Rehari residence of his elder brother Pawan on September 29, on the charges of kidnapping Amina Yousuf, whom he had married.

She has accused her father Mohammad Yousuf Mirazi and brothers Javed and Tariq of conniving with the police to kill her husband. The young widow, who now lives with her in-laws, has refused to go back to her parental house in Kashmir.